Will Russian Citizens No Longer Be Issued Schengen Visas? What the Russian Foreign Ministry Says

Russia, taking into account the actions of the West, does not rule out a scenario in which citizens of the Russian Federation will no longer be granted Schengen visas. This was stated by Ivan Volinkin, director of the consular department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, in an interview with TASS.

“The ministry is carefully noting the calls from Europe to stop issuing Schengen visas to Russians. Most of these statements come from notorious political or social figures who are Russophobes. At the same time, we are already seeing a de facto complete suspension of visa issuance to Russian citizens at the consular institutions of Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Estonia located in Russia,” he said. The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's department emphasized that Moscow continues to support the possibility of mutual travel for citizens of the Russian Federation and Europe and hopes that the EU will act rationally.